Guardians of the Plains

Environmental Significance of the Aravalli Range

- by Ekta Sati

What is the Aravalli? For the last few years, this question has sat at the heart of intense debates within the Honourable Supreme Court. But while experts weigh definitions and legal boundaries, I want to move past the paperwork and talk about what the Aravalli actually does for us. To understand its true identity, we must look at how it keeps us alive. It is the silent guardian that filters our air and holds back the desert, acting as the very lungs of Northern India. If we truly understood its significance—the way it protects every breath we take, the question of what it “is” would be answered by the life it sustains. Defining it on paper is one thing, but losing it would be a disaster that no law or court could ever fix. Recently, I went to the range to see what remains of its soul. It is one thing to read a satellite report about degrading forest cover and quite another to stand in Aravalli, where the air should be cool and thick with life, only to find yourself surrounded by the grey, skeletal remains of illegal mining and the encroaching frames of luxury urbanisation. These structures are just adding concrete to the range and giving no benefit to the area. They are scars on an ancient face.

THE BIOLOGICAL PULSE: MORE THAN JUST A VIEW

When we talk about the Aravalli, we often fall into the trap of human-centric utility. We talk about what it does for us. But during my visit, I was reminded that the range is a sovereign world of its own. It is a system that provides a diverse habitat for various flora and fauna, birds, and insects.